Pin-guard.



R. L. PRAHAR.

PIN GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 26, 1911.

1,018,131. Patented Feb.20, 1912.

WITNESSES: IIVI/E/V m/a GOLUMBIA PLANOGRAFH C0,, WASHINGTON, a. c.

ROBERT L. PRAI-IAR, OF MASSAPEQUA, NEW YORK.

PIN-GUARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 20, 1912.

Application filed January 26, 1911. Serial No. 604,819.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ROBERT L. PRAHAR, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Massapequa, Nassau county, New York, have invented a new and Improved Pin- Guard, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in pin guards adapted for use in protecting the points of hat pins, scarf pins and the like, to hold the pin in position and thus prevent it from being lost, and also to prevent accidental injury by the point of the pin.

The object of my invention is to simplify the construction and reduce the cost of manufacture of pin guards of this character, and to effect this simplification without reducing the efliciency.

In my improved pin guard, I so mount a spiral spring that the pin, in being inserted into the guard, passes between adjacent coils of the spring so as to spread them apart and to effect a compression of a portion of the spring. This distortion of the spring causes the latter to effectively grip the pin and hold the guard in place.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, and in which the same reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all of the views.

Figure l is a side elevation of a hat pin provided with a point guard constructed in accordance with my invention, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the guard on a somewhat enlarged scale, and Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but showing the guard in place on the point of a pin.

My improved guard invovles as essential features only two parts; namely, a coil spring and a body portion for supporting the spring and receiving the pin point. This body portion may be made in any ornamental form desired, and may be made in imitation of a hat pin head and studded with jewels or decorated to suit the fancy. In the drawing, I have shown a simple body portion 10 devoid of decoration or ornamentation, inasmuch as these latter do not involve any portion of my invention. As shown, the head 10 is turned from a single piece of metal and is of elongated form, with a socket or passage 11 extending lengthwise thereof. The inner end of the passage is closed, and at the opposite end the body is dished or provided with a conical or concave surface 12 to guide the point of the pin into the end of the passage. This passage or socket is of slightly larger diameter than the diameter of an ordinary hat pin, so that the latter may easily slide into place. The passage is preferably formed by drilling directly into the end of the solid body. Adjacent to the open end of the body is a second passage or socket 13, extending substantially at right angles to the passage 11 and intersecting the latter. this passage has portions upon opposite sides of the passage 11 constituting sockets and is of substantially the same diameter, although the diameter of the passage 13 is not of importance. The passage 13 is closed at one end, and contains a coil spring 14,

the adjacent coils of which are closer together than the diameter of the hat pin. The coil spring may be held in place in any suitable manner, but preferably the passage 13 is drilled only part way through the body so as to leave one end closed, and at the opposite end the wall of the body is swaged or bent inwardly, after the spring has been inserted, so as to form a retaining flange 15. It is, of course, evident that instead of bending the metal to form this flange, a small plug might be screwed into the end of the passage to serve as a spring retainer.

The coil spring extends across the passage 11 adjacent to the inlet end of the latter, so that the pin cannot be inserted in the passage 11 to any material extent, without passing through between adjacent coils of the spring, distorting the latter. The pin tends to separate adjacent coils intermediate to the ends of the spring so as to compress the end portions of the spring. This causes a gripping action on the pin, which holds the guard firmly in place on the pin point. With the guard in place, the pin cannot work out and become lost, and the point of the pin cannot come in contact with any person or object to scratch or injure.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

A' pin guard including a body having a passage extending lengthwise thereof to receive the pin point, and sockets intermediate between the ends of said passage and intersecting the same upon opposite sides, and a coil spring having its ends seated in Preferably I said sockets and having its intermediate In testimony whereof I have signed my portion presentlng one or more co11s W1th1n name to thls speolficatlon 1n the presence said passage adapted to be forced toward of two subscrlblng wltnesses.

said sockets upon the insertion of the pin ROBERT L. PRAHAR. through said passage and friotionally en- Witnesses: gaging With said pin to retain the latter C. W. FAIRBANK,

between adjacent coils. WV. C. CAMPBELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, I). C. 

